


A Couple of Nerds

by FemaleJaeger



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Danger, Disney, Drama, F/M, Female Pronouns for Reader, Fighting, First Date, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Garrison Trio Back at it again, Gender-neutral pronouns for Pidge, Kiss The Girl, Photographs, Photography, Reader-Insert, Singing Lance (Voltron), Suspense, The little mermaid - Freeform, War, Weapons, post-season 6, x Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemaleJaeger/pseuds/FemaleJaeger
Summary: Shiro has finally plucked up the courage to ask you out on a date. Life is too short to not take chances, you know?[Post-Season 6]





	1. A Break for Besos

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic just popped into my head one day and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Kudos, comments and criticisms are always welcome, I love hearing from you all! :D
> 
> Last Warning! This work has serious Voltron: Legenary Defender Season 6 Spoilers!!

As the team had been planet hopping on their way home, Shiro had finally plucked up the courage to ask you out on a date. Life was too short to not take chances, you know?

It was late, the first day on a new planet was always the busiest. The team had spent the day hunting, setting up shelter, and mapping the course. Without all of the comforts of the castleship, life was a bit harder but not impossible.

Keith had stepped up as leader and with his personal experience of living on his own in the dessert and then on the back of a time whale for two years with his mother, their collective survival skills and resourcefulness really helped out on barren planets including this one you all were on now.

Hunk really came into his own as an ambassador on populated planets. His easy going demeanor and willingness to learn about the cultures made him a great diplomat. Many times, Hunk easily got supplies needed for the team through a simple conversation with civilians.

Allura, Coran and Romelle had spent many hours talking endlessly about Altea; the planet, the people and the history surrounding both. Allura and Coran had come to accept they weren’t the last of their kind but the truth was that everyone they had known was gone. 10,000 years was simply longer than the Altean life span. While Coran and Allura regaled tales about life on Altea, Romelle shared her experience living in the colony created by Lotor. The three of them became fast friends and although they were helpful with the daily duties, more often than not they got wrapped up in each other’s stories. 

Lance became the heart of the team. He kept everyone together, happy and laughing even on the worst of days. He always made sure to check in on everyone and always offered to lend an ear. You did the same for him. Lance knew just how to make any planet a home for even the shortest amount of time. Everyone appreciated his ability to draw the tension out of them at the end of the day no matter what type of day they were having.

Pidge eagerly awaited their arrival back home. They had completed their goal of finding their brother and father. They only wanted to be back on Earth, to have their family together in one place. There wasn’t much for Pidge to do and without the castleship’s tech and resources, they were left to their own devices. They still tried to learn Altean from the Alteans but some things could not be translated, they each got frustrated and decided against future lessons for now. Pidge’s strength came in to play through mapping and plotting the course through the various systems in space. 

You effortlessly fit into the team now. You helped coordinate the team alongside Keith, you offered support like Lance, you were Hunk’s first choice to accompany him on diplomatic missions and Pidge was teaching you about the star charts they were creating (you had insisted that someone else know how to read it and understand it just in case anything ever happened). When everyone was busy, you preoccupied yourself with cleaning the living space or starting to prepare for the next meal. You never asked for any help and did it all without complaints.

The team was working well, they didn’t need the level of supervision that Shiro had gotten used to giving so long ago. It was easy to fall into rhythm of doing whatever needed to be done. Now that he had the opportunity to step back and look at the team, he was incredibly proud of the progress everyone had made and how each one of you had grown so much.

Inspired by the natural beauty of the current resident planet, Shiro took a deep breath as he approached you. “Hey y/n, do you have a minute?”

“Of course!” You looked up from mixing a soup over the fire, “anything for you Shiro.” The gentle glow of the fire reflected in your eyes and softened all of your features as you smiled up at the man, Shiro gulped suddenly a little more nervous.

He walked you two over towards the Black Lion and away from the rest of the group. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to make this a big deal. I mean it is a big deal, a huge deal, Shiro just didn’t want it witnessed by everyone or he would lose his courage. He thought he had read all the signs correctly and that you might have feelings for him too but you could still say no. Shiro didn’t feel brave enough to be publicly rejected.

“So…” You leaned against Black’s paw and ‘pet’ her absentmindedly, “What’s up?”

“Uh,” Shiro lost his train of thought for a second when you caught his glance and he could see the stars mirrored in your eyes. He forced himself to stop staring and shook his head to reorient himself. “I just noticed that you’ve been doing a lot for the team and we all appreciate everything you do.” Shiro scratched the back of his neck with his left arm, he wasn’t looking at you yet but did take a few slow steps in your direction.

“Oh, thanks for noticing but I’m not doing it for the appreciation, I’m happy to do it,” You grinned and leaned a bit towards Shiro trying to get his attention.

“Yes, well, we’ve all been working hard, you especially since you help everyone out all the time and I was thinking that you deserve a break.” _Ok breathe Shiro, this is the important part, don’t mess this up!_ Shiro thought to himself. “Would you want to come with me tomorrow to explore the other side of this planet?” He couldn’t help but to hold his breath waiting for you to respond.

Your grin changed to a shocked smile, “Really?!”

Shiro nodded, you hadn’t answered him but he felt hopeful since you were smiling.

“I’d love to! This planet it so beautiful and we’ve only seen a tiny fraction of it so far!” You pushed off of Black and practically bounced over to be right in front of Shiro. “I can’t wait! It’s a date!” Before either of you could say any more you remembered something, “Oh shit! The soup!” You skipped over to the fire and left Shiro standing alone in the semi-darkness.

There was so much to process in that small exchange. _You’d love to,_ Shiro’s mind was working through every word and he started grinning. _You can’t wait,_ now he was smiling. _It’s a date,_ and now he was beaming. Shiro felt a warmth spread across his cheeks as he continued standing there alone. He brought up his robotic replacement arm to cool his face and then joined the group again but he couldn’t shake the smile he had.

Lance noticed Shiro looking into his bowl of soup with a certain smile that was rarely seen on the paladin’s face. _He can’t like the soup that much_ , Lance thought to himself. Then Lance saw it. Shiro peeked a glance at you and too quickly he was looking back at his soup with that dopey smile. “Ah,” Lance said at the realization.

“What?” Hunk had heard Lance since he was sitting next to him.

“Oh buddy, I will tell you later!” Lance went back to eating his soup and Hunk was confused but went back to eating his too.

~

By the time everyone was sleeping, Lance had Pidge and Hunk over by the Red Lion. It was far enough away from the tents that no one would be able to hear them.

“What’s this about Lance?” Pidge asked trying to be annoyed but was genuinely interested.

“Shiro and y/n.” Lance looked around to make sure no one else was around for sure.

“What about them?” Pidge asked still trying to get to the root of this.

“There’s something going on between them!” Lance whispered harshly.

“Lance,” Pidge groaned.

“Seriously! Shiro used to always give me shit for flirting or trying to date, I think it’s time for some revenge.”

“But y/n doesn’t deserve to be brought into this,” Hunk started trying to talk Lance out of whatever revenge he had planned. “They both deserve to be happy.”

“Of course they do, I’m not trying to break them up, I’m actually really happy about this! Y/n has been talking nonstop about Shiro the past few weeks, she’s got it bad. But! I think Shiro could use just a little… repayment,” Lance smirked evilly.

What did you have in mind?” Pidge had a glint in their eye and Hunk knew he was already too late to intervene so he listened along to prevent anything too drastic.

“I’m not sure yet. I don’t know if either of you saw Shiro at dinner but he was a Fool in LoveTM, so I don’t know if he just confessed his feelings or y/n did or what but once I find out, I’ll be in contact,” with that Lance snuck back to the camp.

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other and shrugged and followed Lance back, walking leisurely.

~~

The next morning came and you jumped out of bed excited for your day with Shiro. You didn’t know if he had meant it as a “date” date or if he just wanted you to take a well deserved break. You weren’t complaining at either option because either way you got to spend all day with Shiro exploring the most beautiful planet you all have been on so far. As you were picking out your space suit for the day, you were already starting to plan the day mentally. You wanted to tell Shiro your feelings and it had to happen today. If this was truly a date then that would be normal and if he had meant it as a break then this would be a good opportunity to have a bit of privacy so you could spare yourself from a public confession. You were humming and fixing your hair as Allura popped her head into your makeshift room.

“Are you excited?” You had told her almost immediately after Shiro had asked you.

“Yeah, nervous but excited. How do I look? It’s not too much is it?” You had picked out a space suit that showed off your body in the best way but was also had enough armor that would protect you in case of danger.

“Oh no, definitely not too much. I love that color on you! It really compliments your complexion.” Allura walked in. Now she was holding your hand and turning you around with a giggle, “And this style of armor is very flattering.”

You blushed at her compliment, “I hope so! Ugh, what am I doing Allura? I still don’t even know if he likes me or not!”

“I’ve already told you, you have nothing to worry about! He would be an idiot not to adore you!” She smiled and brought you into a hug.

“That sounds vaguely familiar,” you stopped smiling and remembered giving her the same advice when she had come to you about her feelings for Lotor. You felt bad that you had validated Allura’s feelings only for her to get hurt later.

“Yeah and just because he turned out to be a liar doesn’t mean your advice wasn’t sound. I’ve seen the way that Shiro looks at you, you have NOTHING to worry about,” Allura reassured.

“I don’t know. Earth dating or… er... courting?” Allura nodded that she understood, you continued, “it’s different than Altea.”

“Trust me, some things are universal.” She gave you a wink that had you giggling in anticipation for the day all over again. “Oh!” Allura exclaimed, “I already spoke to Keith and I told him that you and Shiro were going to be busy today. I don’t think the other paladins will be a problem but if something comes up, I’ll take care of it!”

“Thanks ‘Llura,” You hugged the princess and took a second to collect yourself. This is it! The two of you walked out attached at the hip.

Shiro was already waiting over by the Black Lion dressed in his paladin armor. You said goodbye to Allura and she gave you a thumbs up as she left.

There wasn’t one thing you would change about the sight in front of you. The Black Lion standing tall and proud in the sunny sky and Takashi Shirogane smiling at you and waving, with the wind playing in his white hair. For a moment you cursed yourself for forgetting your camera in the Black Lion but you were glad you would have it for later in the day. You jogged over to Shiro already so happy and the date hadn’t even started.

~

“Alright, today we agreed to do some housekeeping. The paladins are responsible for washing and maintenance of their lions, since Shiro is using Black today, I will join Coran, Romelle and Krolia to scout the area around the camp.” Keith was just reiterating the plans for the day that everyone had agreed to last night but it revealed to Lance something very important.

“Um, where is y/n?” Lance questioned.

“Don’t worry about her!” Allura interjected, “She’s unavailable to help, so you will just have to do your own work today.” She had hoped that blaming Lance of being lazy would distract him from her obvious cover-up.

Lance had already put two and two together. Shiro taking the Black Lion today and you missing meant that yesterday he asked you out on a date. Lance was plotting as he got up and set to his work.

~

Although it was a date, you two were still working. The Black Lion was scanning for lifeforms and for technology. You leaned against Shiro’s chair as he focused on piloting and you read the results to him aloud. It had been uneventful so far, mostly just animal-like creatures and a few scatterings of large plant life.

All of a sudden, the comms in Shiro’s helmet came to life and Lance’s voice was in his ear, “Shiro, you sly dog.” Shiro stiffened, looked at you, you hadn’t heard the voice and was about to reply when Lance cut him off, “Up, up, up, don’t you dare say a word. I can have Pidge and Hunk hack the Black Lion to make her come back to base. You wouldn’t want to cut your _date_ short.” Shiro noted the stress on the word date and started blushing but followed Lance’s orders, he didn’t know if it was possible to hack the lions but he didn’t want to find out right now. _This is mutiny,_ Shiro thought when Lance’s voice came back, “That’s a good paladin. Now, this isn’t going to be the only time I come into contact today so keep your helmet on or close by.”

“Why?” Shiro asked.

You looked a little lost for words, “I don’t know, there’s probably a bunch of them because there is a water supply somewhere close. Could be worth a closer look?”

Shiro blushed deeply but you didn’t see it, you were too focused on the forward monitor. He had forgotten that you were still relaying the readings and that you couldn’t hear Lance.

After Lance laughed he spoke up, “Call it karma for all those times you stopped me from hitting on aliens. Speak to ya in a little bit, loverboy!”

Shiro grumbled already dreading the next encounter.

You heard him grumble but you hadn’t said anything. Maybe he was bored with the work or maybe he was bored with you. Maybe this break wasn’t shaping up to what he had expected or maybe you weren’t shaping up to his expectations. That one simple grumble had you second guessing everything.

Shiro noticed your quietness even though the monitor was still beeping in new discoveries. “Anything interesting?” He asked to get you talking again.

“Oh, uh…” You scanned the list quickly, “No, just more plants here.”

“Ah,” Shiro realized you both probably needed a change of pace, “Why don’t we go check out the body of water?”

“Ok,” You smiled since he took your suggestion seriously.

Shiro easily landed Black on the bank. You were eager for the fresh air and the two of you exited Black to see a breathtaking view. The water was still and reflected the stars and galaxies above the planet. “Wow!” You walked over to the water’s edge and looked at the view for a minute before looking back at Shiro who hadn’t moved from Black’s feet yet.

It was Shiro’s turn to be amazed at the sight in front of him. You were illuminated in a bright light from the sun but between the sky and water’s reflection it looked like you were one of the brilliant stars in space. Your eyes were full of wonder and a smile never left your lips even when you were calling to him, “Come over here, the view is stunning!”

You had turned around to continue to soak in the view for yourself and Shiro couldn’t help but say to himself, “It sure is,” before running to your side.

~

“They’re on a date!” Lance whispered to Hunk and Pidge over lunch. “I can’t believe Shiro! This man shuts down all of my attempts of casual flirting with aliens, I didn’t even expect like half of my lines to land and now he’s out on a date?! I’m happy for them really but man the irony.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?” Pidge was egging Lance on.

“Well, like I said, I’m not gonna try to break them up or anything. Maybe just get Shiro, Mr. Cool and Collected, a little flustered…” Lance was lost in thought for a few minutes as he chewed his food.

“I wonder how long it will take him to think of something,” Pidge leaned over to Hunk and whispered.

“Not long now, Lance has a knack for these things,” Hunk had seen Lance in action back at the Garrison. Whenever a teacher or student got on Lance’s nerves he would rant to Hunk about all the things he wish he could do to them. Some of them were quite creative and so well planned that Hunk questioned how Lance knew the things he knew.

“I’ve got it!” Lance shouted and everyone eating their lunch nearby looked over at the trio. “Sorry, I killed a bug that was bothering me,” instantly, everyone looked disinterested and turned back to their own food and conversations. “Ok,” Lance said much more quietly, “I know something we can do but it requires both of you, and some instruments.”

Hunk and Pidge looked confused because they didn’t have instruments but followed Lance when he got up to leave.

~

You and Shiro decided to have your packed lunch on the beach before continuing your exploration. “These wraps are really good, did you make them?” You asked.

“No, I had some help from Keith. I’m terrible at making food,” Shiro made a face, maybe remembering some bad kitchen experience.

You chuckled, “You mean you aren’t the best at everything? For shame!” You joked as you took another bite.

Shiro laughed at your sarcasm, “Well we can’t all be as perfect as you.” It took a moment for those words to sink in for everyone. He had meant to be joking but he just let it out that he thought you were ‘perfect.’ Both of you blushed but you just happened to recover quicker.

“I’m not without my faults either though,” you refused to make eye contact and finished your food. “I’m gonna go check the perimeter, I’ll be back in a minute and then we can head out.”

Shiro frowned as he watched you enter the treeline.

“Shir~o!” Lance called from his helmet. Shiro quickly took the helmet and jammed it on his head ready to give the boy on the other end a piece of his mind.

“Lance!” Shiro started angrily.

“Oh good you can chat, that must mean y/n isn’t nearby, everything ok?” Lance did sound a little concerned at the end.

“Of course,” Shiro affirmed and took a breath to continue but was cut off.

“Good! What do you see around you?” Lance asked.

“Uh,” Shiro was taken aback by the sudden question, “why?”

“Just tell me what you see man!”

“We’re next to this lake and there are some trees?” Shiro was lost to Lance’s train of thought.

“Ooh, that’s perfect! So here’s what you’re gonna do, take the comms unit out of the helmet and keep it in your ear.” Shiro did as he was told for now, “Got that? Can you still hear me?”

“Yeah…” Shiro answered

“Good, next you’re gonna take y/n out on the lake.”

“Why?”

“What’s with all the questions?”

“Lance seriously, why are you doing all this?”

“I already told you, you’re a hypocrite and this is your punishment. What ever happened to ‘the universe comes first?’” Lance repeated the words Shiro had told him a lifetime ago.

“Things change,” It was a bad cop out, even Shiro knew that as it left his lips.

“Right, so are you gonna do as I say or are we gonna have to get hacking, I have Pidge and Hunk right here, say hi guys.”

Pidge said, “Hi there!”

Hunk offered a shy, “Hi Shiro.”

“Ugh, fine! I’ll listen but when I get back,” Shiro was cut off again when you walked back into the clearing.

“Hey Shiro, I thought I heard talking, was that you?” You looked confused as you approached.

“Don’t tell her about us!” Lance said.

“Uh, yeah. I was talking to Black, just doing some bonding.” Shiro started packing up the food stuffs.

“Smooth. Lance you could learn something from Shiro,” Pidge offered.

“Not why we’re here Pidge! Ok Shiro, once you get out on the water I want you to say the line, ‘Isn’t this great?’ Cough if you understand,” Lance said.

Shiro rolled his eyes to himself as he cleared his throat in a cough.

You looked over worried, “Are you ok? You haven’t really been yourself today, are you getting sick?” You had closed the distance between the two of you and were now reaching up to feel Shiro’s forehead with the back of your hand.

Shiro gulped as he took a step back, “Yep, um, never better, er, uh, don’t worry about me!”

“Ok, maybe not that smooth,” Pidge admitted.

“We’ll be waiting for your line Shiro, don’t disappoint,” Lance reminded.

“Um y/n, I had an idea. Instead of heading back into the air, would you want to take Black out onto the lake? We could scan the bottom of it for anything that might be unusual.”

“Ok!” You liked the sound of that.

Shiro showed you into Black but instead of sitting in the pilot seat he opened a hatch to the top of her head.

With a questioning look you followed Shiro to the top. The view from before is only magnified at this height, you can see more of the stars in the water and now you could even see a mountain formation in the distance.

Black started moving into the water. You hadn’t expected it and started falling. Shiro caught you in his strong grip. You looked up bewildered, “How? Are you doing this, or is Black?”

“Both, me and Black have a different kind of bond now that our essence had merged for a time. I just have to touch her and she understands my thoughts and feelings and she can act accordingly.” Shiro still supported you since it didn’t seem you were getting used to the lion’s steps.

“Wow, you’re amazing,” You said as you looked up at Shiro. Then you added a bit louder for the Black Lion’s benefit, “You’re both amazing,” before laughing to yourself.

Once you were out in the water, Black’s movements were much slower and smoother so Shiro released you and sat down in the middle and looked ahead. You chose to sit near an ear for support, just in case. Shiro thought about it and scooted towards the other ear. Your bodies were facing each other but both of you looked out toward where Black was swimming.

Shiro sighed happily and then sighed because he had to follow up with Lance’s instructions. He still didn’t understand why this was so important to Lance but Shiro did feel a little guilty. “Isn’t this great?”

“Yeah,” you answered dreamily looking out across the horizon. “I know we rocket through galaxies and systems literally every day but looking out across the water and sky and seeing the stars shining all around feels a lot like flying through space. I don’t think I will ever get sick of it.”

“Me too.” If there was one thing Shiro wanted more than anything else, it would be the chance to explore space with you, without having to fight an intergalactic war.

“ ** _There you see her_ ** ,” Lance started singing, “ **_Sitting there across the way_ **.”

 _Oh no_ , Shiro thought.

“ ** _She don’t got a lot to say but there’s something about her.”_   **Shiro could hear the sounds of instruments of some sort, probably the work of Hunk and Pidge.

“ ** _And you don’t know why but you’re dying to try, you wanna kiss the girl,_ ** ” Shiro blushed and peeked over at you to make sure you still didn’t hear what he was hearing.

You noticed Shiro looking at you and glanced his way to offer a smile. He smiled back at you relaxed for a second.

“ ** _Yes, you want her,_** ” Lance sang and Shiro tensed and looked back out at the view hoping it would hide the deep blush setting in very quickly over his face. “ ** _Look at her, you know you do._** ” Shiro did manage a sidelong look at you, “ ** _It’s possible she wants you, too, there is one way to ask her,_** ” Lance sang.

“ _ **I**_ ** _t don’t take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl._ ** ” Lance teased, “ ** _Sing with me now._ ** ”

Hunk and Pidge joined in to sing, “ ** _Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh, my, look at the boy too shy, he ain’t gonna kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain’t that sad, ain’t it shame, too bad, you gonna miss the girl.”_ **

Now the three of them were playing their instruments and Shiro had a second to collect his thoughts with a deep breath.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” You asked, “You’ve been sighing a lot, are you tired?”

“No, no.” There was no way Shiro could tell you about the comms situation so he decided to tell you how he felt, “I’m just really happy,” Shiro smiled. “To be here,” he gestured to the beautiful scenery. “With you,” He moved a little closer and swung his feet off the front of Black’s head.

“Me too.” You copied Shiro’s movement but didn’t quite close the gap between you two.

Lance piped up, “ ** _Now’s your moment, floating in a blue lagoon. Boy, you better do it soon, no time will be better._ ** ” Shiro tried with all his might to tune Lance and his little merry band out but there was no stopping them now.

“ ** _She don’t say a word and she won’t say a word until you kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don’t be scared, you got the mood prepared, go on and kiss the girl._ ** ” Shiro took the opportunity to move next to you and nudged your shoulder. You smiled and nudged him back.

Lance continued “ ** _Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don’t stop now, don’t try to hide it how you wanna kiss the girl._ ** ” You hesitantly took Shiro’s hand into your own.

“ ** _Sha-la-la-la-la-la, float along, listen to the song, the song say kiss the girl._ ** ” Shiro squeezed your hand almost immediately, relishing in how perfectly your hands fit together like they were meant to be connected.

“ ** _Sha-la-la-la-la-la, music play, do what the music say, you wanna kiss the girl._ ** ” You looked up at Shiro seeing happiness in his smile as he looked down at you.

The music started getting quieter, Lance sang “ ** _You’ve got to kiss the girl._ ** ” You noticed Shiro looking at your mouth and lips.

Hunk sang a bit quieter, “ ** _Why don’t you kiss the girl?_ ** ” You looked at his lips wondering what they would feel like on your own.

Pidge sang quieter still, “ ** _You gotta kiss the girl._ ** ” At the same time, you both started to lean in toward each other.

All together and the quietest yet, the trio sang, “ ** _Go on and kiss the girl!_ ** ” You waited until the last possible moment to close your eyes completely savoring the view of Shiro, the most beautiful man in the universe, waiting for a kiss from you. You didn’t make him wait long though. The kiss was sweet and chaste, both of you were afraid to push the other into something they didn’t want.

You pulled back only slightly and with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, I’m not a very experienced kisser…” You blushed at your admission and looked away.

Shiro brought his free hand to your cheek to make you look at him again, “It was perfect.” Now he was blushing as he continued, “Can we, again?”

“Yeah,” you answered softly.


	2. Look at This Photograph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this! I worked really hard on it, it's something that I haven't done before so I hope I did it justice. I couldn't come up with a better name for this chapter because I am trash lol.

“Well that went better than planned,” Lance laughed after he turned off the mic in his helmet following the last line of the song.

“Can we even consider that a prank?” Pidge seemed happy to have helped but confused as to what to call what just happened.

“No probably not,” Hunk answered, “More like wingman shenanigans? Shenanigans that Lance is totally going to get in trouble for later!” Hunk laughed remembering the threat Shiro had started giving before y/n had entered the picture again.

“Oh right…” Lance paled, “But love is worth it, right?”

“We’ll see later, won’t we?” Pidge teased the Cuban.

“We were in this together!” Lance tried to bring them back to his side.

“Yeah for the prank, not the punishment, sorry but I will throw you under the bus so quickly.” Pidge didn’t look sorry at all.

“Hunk, buddy,” Lance tried to appeal to his friend.

“This was your idea, Lance, you blackmailed Shiro, you made the instruments, which were actually really well made by the way, and you picked the song, sang most of it…” Hunk could almost keep going but the sad look on Lance’s face made him stop.

“Well when you put it that way…” Lance dejectedly walked out of the tent and towards the Red Lion for maintenance.

~~

The rest of the day flew by with Shiro by your side. After the lake, you two took off in Black to finish what you came out to do but stopped at various spots along the way. You made Shiro stop at the last spot so you could get a picture with these huge plants that all had a lump in their trunks that looked like butts. You placed your gloved hand on one of the ‘butts’ and smiled eagerly for the picture.

Shiro rolled his eyes but laughed and took the picture.

You walked over to check it out for yourself, “I can’t wait to tell Allura I touched the butt.”

“I don’t think she would get that reference,” Shiro reminded.

“Oh right, I forgot. Then I’ll have to tell the three musketeers, they’ll appreciate it.” You swiped through to look at something else on the device.

Shiro grimly agreed, already having flashbacks to Lance singing Little Mermaid in his ear. Shiro looked back up at the sky to try to push it out of his mind on the way back to the Black Lion.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Shiro mentioned as he settled into the pilot’s chair and turned Black back on, “we should head back for dinner with the crew.”

“Yeah… you’re right.” You sounded how Shiro felt. Neither of you wanted today to end.

“Let me see the pictures from today. I can put Black on Auto Pilot back to the base.” Shiro pressed a short series of buttons on the dashboard. “Plug this,” Shiro grabbed a retractable cable from under the control panel, “into your camera, it will upload the pictures into the Black Lion so we can see them in the front display.”

You connected the device with the wire and within seconds the first picture of you touching the ‘butts’ popped up. You laughed again at your own joke. “Alright Black, we get it, it’s funny,” Shiro cast a smile your way before shaking his head, “Let’s start from the beginning?”

A picture of an animal that resembled a rainbow saber tooth tiger slid up to replace the original photo. “Oh cool! I didn’t even see that,” Shiro commented.

“Actually that’s from the last planet, there hasn’t been anything that big in size on this planet. That’s actually kind of strange that there aren’t any bigger mobile lifeforms, I hadn’t realized…” You were already thinking of possible explanations.

“Hm,” Shiro didn’t have much to offer in that line of thinking, “What’s next then?”

A picture of the lake slid up. “It’s still so beautiful.” You looked at the picture full of adoration.

“Yeah, it is,” Shiro was looking at you through his helmet visor.

“Black, can you pull up the next one?” You asked.

She pulled up a landscape picture of the mountain range at the far end of the lake with the stars behind the mountains and the whole scene being reflected on the surface of the lake.

“Wow, y/n, that’s an awesome picture, like a professional shot,” Shiro was amazed, he couldn't pull his eyes away from the picture.

A little bashful you responded, “Thank you, I was never a pro but I used to really enjoy photography as a hobby back on Earth.”

“With these skills, you would make a great photographer,” complimented Shiro.

“Uh thanks, but I think if I ever sold this picture it would be because it features an unknown planet in the middle of a galaxy that we can’t even see from Earth,” You laughed as you stretched your back, it wasn’t a terrible thought though. It might even make you a good amount of money the more you thought about it in serious.

“Do you want to sit?” Shiro began to get up to offer his seat and Black immediately started powering down. Shiro sat back down real quick before Black launched into a nosedive. “Sorry about that, I almost forgot that someone has to be sitting here even if Auto Pilot is engaged.”

“It’s alright! I’m alright.” You waved off Shiro’s apologies, he really didn’t have anything to apologize for.

“Still, you must be tired, we walked a lot today,” Shiro looked around the cockpit for something you could sit on, a wicked idea came to mind, “how about here?” Shiro pat his lap with a grin that was not as innocent as the man thought it was.

“Uh, you can’t be serious? I’m uh…” you didn’t want to admit to the extra weight you had added though training and eating foods that weren’t Food GooTM _, a substance made to be perfectly digested_. “I’m a solid girl, definitely heavier than I look.”

“Well good thing I’m a strong guy. Come here,” Shiro grabbed your hand to pull you over, you didn’t resist and a small smile was forming as you tentatively sat down on Shiro’s left leg with your legs hanging over his right leg. You peeked up to the right to see Shiro’s face so close, you almost jumped when he asked, “Black, what’s the next picture?”

The next picture to slide up was one you had taken of Shiro’s back as he walked towards a fascinating rock formation. It was one of your favorite pictures taken that day, it looked effortlessly artistic.

“I didn’t know you were taking a picture of that view,” Shiro was frowning a bit, upset he ruined the picture, “You should have told me, I would have moved aside.”

“No, I like the picture just like this. You were the main part of the view I was trying to capture,” you admitted your thinking behind the picture trying to reassure Shiro that he had done nothing wrong. “Besides, doesn’t it look stunning? Like if you ever wanted to drop an album, this would be a great cover.” 

Shiro heartily chuckled behind you and you felt his breath on your hair, “I’ll keep that in mind in case I ever make and release an album.” He let out a few more laughs at the idea before asking Black for the next picture.

This was the first selfie you and Shiro took together, you two were smiling in front of the mouth of a cave filled with glittering rocks that would probably be considered gemstones back on Earth. You both smiled now.

“We should have grabbed one of those rocks,” you said, “as like a souvenir, ya’ know?”

“Yeah but maybe it’s best we didn’t disrupt the environment too much,” Shiro offered still looking at the two of you smiling in the picture. Seeing it from a third person view made Shiro realize how happy he was when he was near you.

“True,” you agreed, “What’s the next one Black?”

She pulled up the next one and all you could say was, “Oh.”

It was a picture of you and Shiro in front a waterfall. He had taken it but you had surprised him at the last second with a kiss. In the picture, your eyes were closed with your lips on his cheek and Shiro had a look of shock on his face. 

_ Oh my god, I look like a complete idiot _ , _ but y/n looks like an angel _ , Shiro thought as he stayed quiet for a little too long.

“We can delete it if you don’t like it?” You offered.

“No!” Shiro answered quickly then cleared his throat, turned his head away from you and covered his mouth, “I like it.”

“Me too,” you smiled, “Can we see the next one?”

Black obliged. This was another landscape photo of a trail in between two rows of tree-like plants.

“Oh yeah! This actually brought up a lot of questions for me, like how did the plants come to be in rows like that? It can’t be natural, can it?” You started rambling a bit but Shiro was listening.

That is until his ears were full of another voice, “Hi Shiro,” Lance greeted.

The only thing Shiro could do was tense his jaw in response.

“I know you can’t speak right now but I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about intruding today,” Lance was talking normally but it didn’t seem that you could hear him over your own speech.  “I do kind of feel bad for forcing you into the situation on the lake and if I made things awkward, I’m sorry,” Lance admitted.

Shiro didn’t feel bad for not answering and letting Lance stew on this. Shiro didn’t have any regrets about the lake though.

It was quiet in Shiro’s helmet but he knew Lance was still there so Shiro proposed, “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”

You answered him, “Yeah, I’d like to hear what the others have to say about it.”

Shiro swallowed hard, forgetting you could hear him, “What’s the next picture?”

Black pulled up a picture you took of an interesting creature sitting on a leaf.

Lance was laughing into Shiro’s ear as you started telling Shiro about the little guy. “Ok Shiro, I know I’m in trouble just don’t be too harsh on me. Don’t forget about what I said inspired all this.”

_ That’s fair _ , Shiro thought.

“Black, can you pull up the next picture?” You asked

“Also,” Lance continued.

Black pulled up a picture of you and Shiro smiling in front of her. You looked a little closer and realized Shiro was giving you bunny ears! You giggled and lightly swatted Shiro on the chest, “you nerd!”

Shiro could feel was his body fill with ardor. Then Lance finally finished his thought, “I can’t wait to see all these pictures.” Lance snickered and Shiro went cold as he thought,  _ absolutely not happening _ .

“What’s the next one?” You asked.

Black showed the next picture Shiro took. He was smiling with his hand held flat out. You were really far away so it looked like you were tiny and standing in the palm of Shiro’s hand. You were waving at the camera. 

You both let out a little laugh. It had been your idea. “It came out really nice! Good job Shiro, it’s tough to get shots like this!” 

Shiro blushed under your praise, he had just listened to your very detailed instructions. 

“Well, I’ll get going, see you two when you both get back!” Lance signed off happily.

Shiro sighed, content knowing there wouldn’t be any more weird interruptions. “What’s the next picture, Black?”

You both laughed out right when it popped up on the monitor. It was Shiro and you imitating the most moronic looking animal in the background. Your faces were stretched into terrible renderings of the animal but it was funny. “I think I got it’s mouth perfectly,” You laughed at your own twisted face.

“What’s most important are the eyes, and I did it better,” Shiro chuckled at his visage.

“I swear I had my eyes crossed! Did we take another one with that animal? Black?” You called, trying to win the ugly face contest.

Black pulled up another picture and it had both of you instantly silent. This was a picture of you and Shiro sitting on a branch of the tree-plants kissing. It was from a distance that neither of you could have taken.

You broke the silence, “I didn’t take this,” it was all you could say even though it was pretty obvious.

“Black,” Shiro started to ask something, but his mind was going a mile a minute. Was someone watching them? Was it Lance? Was it someone malicious? How could they have taken it without you two noticing their presence?

Black brought up another picture of you walking out to the lake. It was a transcendentally ethereal picture. It was taken from above and pictured you with your feet in the shallow part of the water. The sandy beach formed a crescent around the pool of stars reflected in the water. It was like you were on the shore of the galaxy itself.

“How? Who?” You wanted to ask more questions but your mind was completely blank.

Shiro, on the other hand, had the opposite problem. He was already mentally hunting the perpetrator in Black tonight while everyone slept.

Black pulled up the next picture of you leading Shiro by the hand to look at the valley in the mountain range.

You had to admit, the pictures were magnificent. They always captured the light just right and it was clear you and Shiro were the intended focal points. 

Shiro was worried because you were almost home, whoever took these pictures could be following you two and Shiro could be leading them directly back to the camp. Shiro reached around you to grab the controls to take over again and pulled Black into a stop.

You looked at him confused.

He was about to explain when another picture jumped up on to the monitor. Shiro was in the foreground, his legs were cut off and he was unfocused but you could see his head was slightly down and he was reaching up to fix his hair. You were in the background, but the way the picture was taken, you were in the center of the photo and the focus was clearly on you. You were looking at Shiro with the most tender expression and you were holding your hands over your heart.

Now you were profusely blushing and stuttering, “Th-Th-That’s!” You couldn’t get your brain to form a sentence, you were so embarrassed. The picture was the epitome of smitten.

“Wait a minute,” Shiro squinted his eyes not processing the whole picture, “I definitely would have noticed someone so close to me taking pictures,” this changed his thinking, maybe it wasn’t Lance or some creep? An idea popped into his head, he wanted to confirm it first though, “Black can you go back to the picture of us in the tree?”

Black did and you blushed deeper, if possible, trying not to be so self-conscious as Shiro leaned forward to get a better look at the picture.

“And the one of y/n at the lake,” Shiro urged.

Black listened. Shiro tilted his head a bit.

“What is it?” You asked curiously. He was clearly putting things together in his head that you didn’t see.

“Black,” Shiro answered you then turned up at the ceiling, “Did you take these pictures?”

It was silent for a second and then you both felt the lion purr around you.

“Oh whoa! That’s the first time I’ve ever heard her, or any of the lions to be honest!” You looked around waiting for something more to happen but it was quiet. 

“Huh,” Shiro laughed. Usually only those destined to pilot the lions could hear them. He shook it off because the Black Lion probably used your connection to him to get the message across.

“How did you know?” You looked at Shiro, eyes full of interest.

“It was the perspective. Who else could have been equal height with us in the tree or look down on you on the beach?”

“Wow, I didn’t even think about that. You’ve got a sharp eye,” then something came into your mind, you didn’t want to bring it back up but you were curious. “What about the last one?”

Black brought it back up and you blushed all over again. Shiro finally looked at the whole picture and mentally thanked Black for taking it. She purred again just for him. “She took it when she bent her head down to let us in.”

“Oh.” That made perfect sense. “Look, Shiro.” You paused to collect your thoughts.

Your pause made Shiro’s mind jump to the worst possible scenarios but you cut them short when you continued.

You looked him in the eye, “I know it seems silly to admit that I like you since we kissed and everything but I  _ really _ like you.” You looked back at the monitor to see yourself starstruck looking at Shiro, “I think that picture tells you that,” you rubbed your temples with your left hand and giggled shyly. “My feelings for you aren’t something casual or fleeting, they are serious and sincere.” You looked back at Shiro over your shoulder and he wasn’t moving. “But if you don’t like me like that, it’s fine! I’ll get over it eventually. I mean to say it’s ok if you don’t like me, I wouldn’t force a relationship on you if you don’t want it.” You started babbling to fill the silence.

“Y/n,” Shiro whispered and you promptly stopped talking. “I like you too, seriously and sincerely,” Shiro grinned.

A smile spread across your face and Shiro swore he was looking into the sun by how bright it was. You shifted around in his lap and threw your arms around Shiro’s neck as you hugged him. 

Shiro laughed as he pat your back, “Ready to head back? We’re pretty close,” he grabbed the controls.

You nodded and leaned into his chest as you both looked out the front window. A comfortable silence filled the cabin as you completed the last leg of the trip.

~~

“Oh, look who’s back?” Pidge said with a devilish smile at the sound of the incoming lion.

“The lovebirds,” Lance joked, it was his last chance to joke before he figured Shiro would eject him into space.

“Hush now,” Allura clicked her tongue. They all watched as the Black Lion landed and opened to let you both out. Shiro offered a hand to help with the jump down, you accepted, jumped and continued to hold his hand as you both walked over to the fire. 

“Gross,” Pidge interjected and turned to leave.

You were the first to notice everyone’s eyes and trailed them back to your hand that was still connected to Shiro’s. You blushed and let go as Allura walked over beaming at you. 

“Don’t say anything,” you begged her, “not here,” you nodded to the others leaning in to hear. Allura obeyed and dragged you away to the tents.

Shiro was left a little confused and surrounded by questioning looks. 

“So how was your day?” Keith mused.

“Good.” It was all Shiro could muster as he sat down next to Keith for some dinner.

“Where did you go?” Keith kept at it. He had assumed that it was a date but was a little upset Shiro hadn’t told him about taking you out, they trusted each other with everything else, why not this?

“The other side of the planet.”  _ Just keep it simple _ , Shiro thought.

“Oh, ok.” Keith had just one more question for the white-haired man, “Did anything interesting happen?”

“No.” Shiro answered assuredly but the slight pink on his cheeks gave him away. Keith knew he would get the full story later and saved Shiro from divulging it now.

Keith got up to clean up his finished meal, leaving Shiro alone with Hunk and Lance at the next table.

“So~o,” Lance sang.

Fury flashed in Shiro’s eyes as his gaze met Lance’s.

“Eep!” Lance dodged behind Hunk.

Hunk caught the angry look from Shiro and asked sheepishly, “How did it go?”

Shiro was embarrassed that he let his emotions get the best of him. He relaxed and smiled at Hunk to say, “It went well, thanks.”

“Just well?” Lance popped up behind Hunk’s shoulder.

Shiro was at a loss. It was a great time but he had never been one to gush, especially not with these two.

Lance offered some other words, “What about great or amazing or wonderful?” Lance knew he was teetering on the edge of a dangerous situation already but he couldn’t help himself as he swan dived into certain trouble, “If I was dating y/n, that’s how I’d describe it.”

Shiro stood up abruptly, anger bubbling up at the thought of Lance and you together. Lance jumped back behind Hunk and even Hunk was leaning away slightly. “What do you want me to say Lance? It was the best damn day of my short revived life? Because it was! Are you happy now?”

“Yes.” Lance squeaked as he pointed to the door. There you stood with Allura’s arm wrapped around your shoulder. Everyone stayed in stunned silence. 

Shiro took a deep breath, ran his fingers through his hair. “Sorry for yelling,” Shiro broke the silence.

“Nonsense!” Allura chimed in as she pulled you further into the tent. “I’ll grab you some food, y/n,” she offered as she skipped off to the food containers.

Shiro sat back down. Lance sat down too, next to Hunk. You took a seat next to Shiro and across from Lance.

“How was your day off, y/n?” Lance asked.

You peeked over at Shiro and he was looking down at his food with a slight blush. You looked back at Lance who had the biggest shit-eating grin.  _ He knows _ . “It was really nice. Thanks for today, Shiro.”

It took a second for Shiro to look over at you but once he did, his worry melted away and he smiled earnestly, “Of course, anything for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say a few things  
> •If the lions can project images into the minds of the paladins (Literally seen in the first episode haha) and have memories (as seen with specifically the Black Lion remembering altea in S2 E7 and all the bonding moments with Shiro and the team in the S2 finale) then I think that the lions are capable of taking pictures.  
> •Black now has all of those pics saved for Shiro to access under the code, "Starshine Sweetheart" (If there are two things that I am certain of about Shiro, 1. he's an astro-nerd and 2. he's a sap)  
> •I'm still laughing at the one picture of you and Shiro in the tree - literally ♪you and Shiro sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G♪


	3. The Brash Bayard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You knew what you were getting into starting a relationship during a war with a side of Coran appreciation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I couldn't leave well enough alone. 
> 
> I know that this is a fluff fic but I really couldn't help myself so enjoy the next two chapters!
> 
> All the best loves!

The next couple of days passed in a happy haze. Between the not-so-secret gazes that passed between you and Shiro and the small but meaningful touches that you exchanged, it made your days light and sweet. Even on the busiest days, Shiro always made time for you and you for him. Both of you knew you wanted something serious but there didn’t seem to be any rush. Just knowing that you were each committed to whatever this new relationship would yield seemed to be enough for now.

Even though you thought you were being discreet, there was no denying when you caught someone else’s eyes, they would give a knowing smile as they turned away.

“You know everyone knows we’re something right?” You said one night as you laid on the head of the Black Lion looking up at the stars next to Shiro.

“What?” He actually sounded surprised.

“Seriously? You haven’t noticed?”

“You mean besides Lance giving me a thumbs up every time I'm in the same room as him,” you could hear the eye-roll in his voice.

“Yeah, besides Lance, everyone knows something’s up.”

“I told Keith,” Shiro admitted.

“I told Allura,” You admitted in response.

“And if Lance knows then everyone really does know,” Shiro reached up to rub his face. “Sorry,” Shiro offered his apology.

“For what? It’s not like they wouldn’t have figured it out on their own eventually,” you shrugged it off. “There’s nothing to apologize for... unless… you didn’t want anyone to know?”

“Kinda?” Shiro responded. “I guess I just figured we’d have more time, just us.”

You let that sit for a second. “Us,” you repeated. It felt exciting and new while also feeling comfortable and easy.

“Yeah,” Shiro added, probably also realizing the depth of such a small word.

After a moment of quiet introspection you replied, “It was probably unavoidable, we’re such a small group.”

“That’s true, you really learn a lot about people when you spend every waking moment with them,” Shiro affirmed.

“Yeah, like you snore like a chainsaw,” You joked.

“I do not!” Shiro sat up offended.

You laughed, “Okay, it’s actually like a baby chainsaw.”

“No way!” Shiro laughed.

“It’s not all the time, but you definitely do.”

“It’s not as loud as Hunk’s is it?” Shiro asked concerned.

“No, not usually,” you reaffirmed.

“Ok.” He seemed to accept that consolation. “Well, did you know you eat really slow, like a cute turtle.” Shiro laid back.

“I know!” you blushed embarrassed he had noticed this about you. You had really tried to keep up with the others at meal times but everyone else seemed to inhale their food. “I didn’t think it was noticeable though…” you murmured.

“It’s not really, unless you’re paying attention,” Shiro conceded.

You wondered when exactly he had made this observation, “Sorry for enjoying my food,” you tried to defend yourself.

“It’s fine, just something I’ve noticed,” he laughed.

“Have you noticed how...” and just like that, the two of you settled into an easy conversation about the little quirks you both marked in your teammates. Things like Hunk’s effortless intelligence and Coran’s silly mustache twitch when he’s getting ready to tell a joke. Shiro told you about Keith’s tell when he’s lying and you told him about Lance’s. This wasn’t the first night you two spent under the stars talking about nothing and everything. 

As new as the relationship was, this wasn’t the first time you wondered if this would be the last moment of happiness you would get before the war devastated your found family. You tried to push the idea out of your mind but it always lingered in the background. Instead you thanked the universe for what you were given at the moment, not trying to harp on the negative.

Tomorrow, the team was to prepare to leave this planet. It was bittersweet moving on. You inched your hand towards where you figured Shiro’s was. You easily interlaced you fingers with the robotic ones you found. There was a warmth found there, not from the inner machinations of the circuits’ alternating current but from the tenderness with which Shiro gently squeezed your hand. His touch grounded you just like it had the first time he offered a friendly pat on the back or a hug after a particularly harrowing mission. 

When everything seemed like it was moving out of your control and when things made no sense, Shiro came in with his calm, logical perspective and set things back on their normal paths in reality and within your heart.

~

The morning was still dark but everyone was up and slowly packing things back into their lions. Black was the largest and would hold a majority of the food supplies, Krolia, Shiro and the Space wolf were to sleep there as well. Yellow would hold the last bit of the larger cargo and Kaltenecker for this leg of the trip (pun intended lol). Blue held the pack of Alteans, the mice and materials you all were using for tents. Green was to hold Pidge’s things and the various artifacts that the team has found and collected along the way. 

For the last part you had been with Pidge and as much as you enjoyed bonding with the Green Paladin, they kept strange hours and more often than not you felt like you were lacking sleep. Red was going to be your bunking location for the next part of the journey. Lance promised nothing but good hosting and stupid jokes and you looked forward to it as a change of pace. 

Shiro wasn’t keen on the idea but this arrangement made a lot of sense. The largest lions could hold the most people and things but it would be too cramped to squeeze four adults and a space wolf in Black’s cockpit.

“I promise I’ll be good,” you teased as you picked up a box and gave Shiro a playful bump with your hip. He seemed tense so you were trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Shiro reluctantly smiled.

“You’re worried about Lance making a move?” You couldn’t help but laugh because you hadn’t seen that one coming. As Shiro’s face morphed into one of worry you amended, “He’s harmless, you have to know that.”

After some thought Shiro said, “Yeah, I guess.”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you, he’s your teammate. You’ve had direct access to what’s going on inside his head. Lance is a good guy and he is genuinely happy for us, he wouldn’t do anything malicious.” You were suddenly feeling really protective over Lance, he hadn’t done anything that you knew of to be doubted like this.

And it was just that, you didn’t know that Lance had hijacked Shiro’s attention during your first date and that Shiro was still thinking about it.

“You’re right,” Shiro admitted, shaking off the worry, “like always,” he sighed dramatically trying to bring back the playful tone you had raised earlier.

Happy that Shiro could stop worrying about this one thing, you flipped your hair in faux arrogance, “of course,” you stated as you walked past him, the box still in your hands. You looked back at him to flash a smile that showed you were only joking.

Instead of the charming smile you thought you would see, Shiro’s jaw had dropped and was looking in the distance past you. You whipped your head around to see what he was seeing.

Enemies were flying in and charging their cannons.

Shiro put on his helmet “Get inside the lions!” He ordered. “Enemies inbound and they’re preparing to fire!” 

For the most part everyone was already near their lions. Shiro ran alongside you towards the pack of mechanical cats when you remembered that no one had moved Kaltenecker yet. You stopped and turned.

“Where are you going?!” Shiro yelled but started following.

“No! Go!” You waved for him to turn back, “The team needs you in the air!”

“I’m not leaving you on the ground, alone!” He had already caught up.

“It’s Kaltenecker,” you pointed at the makeshift corale with the animal lazily chewing some kind of grassy plant, “He’s completely defenseless.”

Shiro thought for a second then broadcast, “Are there any lions still on the ground?”

Lance responded, “I am, I’m waiting for y/n, are they with you? We have to get in the air now.” There was a tension in his voice.

You picked up on Shiro’s line of thinking as he spoke, “Lance bring Red to the corale, you have to pick up Kaltenecker.”

“Got it,” Lance confirmed.

He was there in a few ticks, Kaltenecker got on without a problem but there wasn’t much room left in the cockpit for Shiro and you.

Lance launched into the air and Kaltenecker pinned you to the wall. You silently bit your tongue as Shiro was giving Lance orders in the front.

Without a word to the two men in the front, you hit the door button and left the cockpit to head down to the mouth of the Lion.

“Y/n?!” Lance yelled into the comms noticing first, since Red didn’t let him fire the cannon with you there.

“Wha-” Shiro hadn’t noticed your departure either.

“I’m going to get on one of their ships,” you answered the implied question.

“Are you serious?” Lance sounded especially surprised.

Shiro had no words apparently.

“Yeah,” you found one that was about to fly under Red, “That one.” Then you jumped.

Inside the Red cockpit Lance turned to Shiro, “Does y/n have a death wish?”

“Uh,” Shiro was still shocked that any of this happened at all. He shook it off, “Cover that ship, don’t let anyone shoot it down.”

Lance nodded and followed after the ship.

You landed with a clunk and your boots magnetized to the outside of the hull. Then you took out your bayard. It reminded you of the day you got it.

~

“Hello Coran,” you smiled at the red-headed alien as he entered the med bay.

He sighed before saying, “you should be resting.”

“I am?” you were leaning against a cot fiddling with a trinket that you had picked up on the same planet you had gotten hurt on.

“You should lay down, sleep does wonders for healing,” Coran started to lecture.

“I know, but it’s so hard sitting out when everyone you love is out fighting for their lives.” You stopped turning the object over in your hands.

Coran sighed again, “I have known that feeling for longer than you have been alive.”

“Sorry,” you hadn’t meant to bring up bad memories for Coran. He always offered to be a shoulder to lean on so it was easy to forget that he was grieving himself.

“It’s ok, my dear, you didn’t mean any harm,” Coran came over to lean against the bed with you.

“How do you deal with it?” You still stared at the toy but the intensity increased.

“Well much like you at first, I jumped headlong into fights against enemies that were much beyond my skill level.”

“I really thought I could take him, Coran. Who would have known that he had the power to spit acid?” You offered a week smile.

“We would have known if you didn’t just jump in to fight him,” Coran argued.

“Well how else would you have known?” You contested.

“I don’t know, you didn’t exactly give the team a chance to figure it out any other way.”

“You know one of them would have done the same and then instead of me, one of the paladins would be in this bed and then Voltron would be benched.”

“So you don’t regret your actions at all?” Coran was angry, he had been with you as you writhed in pain while the healing pod extracted the poison from your system.

You stood up and faced Coran fiercely, “No.”

After a moment, Coran let out the third sigh since entering. “Your dedication is admirable but your methods leave a lot to be desired.”

“Wouldn’t you do anything to protect the princess?”

“Absolutely.” Coran answered without hesitation.

“Well it’s the same for me with the paladins from Earth.” You leaned back against the bed, “They’re everything to me and I will make sure they make it home to their families.”

“What about your family?” Coran asked.

You shrugged, “It’s complicated but I’ve been on my own for a while now. I don’t have anyone waiting for me back on Earth, not like the other paladins.”

You didn’t hear it but Coran let out a little whimper. You already had a special place in his heart but he mentally adopted you in that instant. “Wait right here,” Coran said as he briskly left the room.

He was only gone for a minute or two when he returned with his hands behind his back. Your interest had definitely piqued.

“Firstly, I want to say that I don’t condone your actions. As much as they come from a place of love, they’re just plain dumb.”

That made you laugh a little because you could admit he had a point.

“Secondly, while you may be skilled, there will always be enemies more skilled. The true test of a good warrior is in their patience and judgement. Those traits are even harder to find than the ability to spit poison.”

Now you were giddy, what was up with this speech all of a sudden?

“Lastly, you have people that are waiting for you. You have a family in the paladins, in the families of the paladins, in the princess and me. Do not view yourself as expendable. You are very important to each and every one of us and throwing yourself into danger is doing us a disservice.”

Ah, you got it now. This is the “don’t be stupid and die senselessly in battle” talk.

Coran continued softly, “Did you know that I had a daughter?” 

“No, I didn’t.” You matched his volume.

“I don’t like talking about it because it’s hard to imagine that she’s not here anymore,” Coran looked at the ground.

“I’m so sorry Coran,” you moved to stand in front of him and place a comforting hand on his arm.

He looked at you and his face softened, “If she were still alive, I like to think she would be a lot like you actually.”

“Wouldn’t you want her to be like the princess?”

“As much as I love Allura, she has her faults too. Her stubbornness is like nothing else in the universe and through no fault of her own, she was raised as royalty always getting what she wanted and she got a little spoiled from it. But don’t tell her I said that,” He laughed. “I think my daughter would have grown to be independent, heard-working, loyal and empathetic, like you.”

“I’m not without my faults either, but I bet she would have been even better than me with a father like you.”

Coran’s eyes prickled with tears.  “Thank you,” He sniffled then continued, “but don’t sell yourself short. I want to give you this,” Coran moved his hand around to the front so you let go of his arm and could now see that he was holding a bayard. Instead of one color, it had all of the colors of Voltron. It was slightly different in shape to the other bayards making you guess that it was made separately. Coran pushed it towards you, reminding you he was offering it to you.

“Oh Coran, no, I can’t take this from you.”

“I insist,” he urged.

“I didn’t even know you had a bayard?”

“King Alfor noticed how I was jumping into fights alongside the paladins of old and wanted to even the playing field for me. He made it as a gift to me and a relief to him because I got hurt a lot less,” Coran laughed, probably at a memory of King Alfor giving him the very same speech he was giving you.

“Coran you said it yourself, King Alfor made this for you.”

“It’s been years since I’ve used it. I found a place where my skills shine even better than a battlefield.”

“The bridge of a ship,” you added. You had to be completely ignorant to miss the fact that Coran was a genius when it came to navigation, engineering, and really all things flying.

“Well thank you for noticing,” Coran blushed slightly and then added, “but yes, the bridge of a ship is where I belong and where it is most comfortable for me now. I don’t need a weapon like this when I have a whole slew of armaments found on a ship.” He pushed it towards you again.

This time you couldn’t think of an excuse not to take it. There was a lot of trust and responsibility that came with this particular bayard. You looked up at Coran almost pleading to not have to take on this responsibility.

“Now that is the feeling you should feel when you go into battle. You should be reluctant to use this bayard because it means that there will be a fight that might cost a life. It could be your enemy’s life but it could also be your life. The outcome is never guaranteed but if you hone your patience and judgement then you will have the upper-hand.”

All you could do is nod as you looked back down at the bayard in Coran’s hand.

“For crying out loud,” Coran grabbed your hand and placed it on the hilt of the bayard.

The room was consumed with sparkling lights of all colors like when white light passes through a prism and it makes a rainbow. The next instant you felt the weight of a weapon in your hand and you adjusted your hold to compensate. You blinked away the light and found in your hands a magnificent battle axe. The whole thing was more decorated than the bayards of the paladins. The blade had etchings of the lions softly glowing in different colors. The handle had gold inlays that wrapped from the blade connection to the pommel. “It’s beautiful.”

“Well the bayard takes the shape best suited for the user.”

“No, the decoration on it,” you fingers lightly stroked the glowing depiction of the yellow lion.

“Ah yes,” Coran held his hand over yours on the hilt. “When Alfor was making this one he had already perfected the technique and as a gift to his advisor of many years, he pulled out all the stops.”

“Coran, I can’t,” you tried giving it back. There was too much history attached to this bayard. It was made for Coran where the other bayards were made for the paladins. This was too special, you couldn’t take this.

“I swear to the stars that I want you to have this!” Coran shoved it back at you and quickly removed his hands, “as long as…” he continued, “you promise to look out for yourself.”

You held the axe to your chest as you nodded. Then you let it revert to the basic bayard shape as you threw your hands around Coran.

“Whoa!” He grabbed back for stability.

“I promise, I will!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to pay homage to Coran, he's not dead, I just really love him!
> 
> Also I needed to vent because the recent season being released - no spoilers but dang!


	4. One of Us is Going Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Action, Fighting, Drama, Suspense. That's it, that's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize about the poor summary, I'm learning that they get harder over time but I will try to be better! (but like also it does summarize the chapter soooo...)

The memory made you smile as you made the size of the blade bigger and pried into the space craft. It wasn’t a surprise to find that it was the Galra attacking but the mismatched ships had thrown you for a second. You made short work of the two sentries manning the two guns. The Galra pilot put the craft on autopilot so they could attack you themselves.

They had a staff that looked like it had an electric current popping with energy at each end. The quick decision was to stay away from the ends. You swung your axe and they blocked with the middle of their staff. Smiling, you used the hooked end of the axe to yank their staff leaving them off balance. With a strong kick to their middle, you two parted. They growled and lunged forward at you. This time you parried the attack and then countered. They blocked your counter by sticking their staff to the ground and using the electricity to shock you from the ground up. Your swing was already heading towards them but as you were shocked, you lost the ability to stop and as your blade connected with the staff it was electrocuted out of your hand and towards the other end of the ship. You recovered but before you could call the axe back to your hand, the ship shifted and pinned the bayard under a crate.

With your attention divided, the pilot took advantage and hit you with their staff right to your stomach. Luckily it had spent its charged energy just the moment before but the force of the hit alone pushed you to the other side of the ship causing you to crash into the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of you and as you fell to the floor, you groaned for air. It was an agonizing 10 seconds of fighting for air before the Galra soldier walked over and chuckled before kicking you in the side.

“Not so tough without your weapon, huh?” The Galra mused as they backed up to look at you.

The kick helped restart your diaphragm but left you aching in a new way. You covertly brought a hand to your leg to press the recall button on your armor for your bayard. After feeling the familiar warmth on your thigh, you stood up with great effort and mumbled “I’ll show you tough.”

“What?” The Galra looked incredulous.

The answer was a swift and sure punch to their stomach. They bent over and you used the opportunity to kicked them in the side of their head.

Their helmet flew off and they stumbled to the side. It didn’t seem to do much except make them angry.

They took this opportunity to change the fight into a full on fisticuffs. They punched the side of your helmet twisting it on your head.

It was uncomfortable. As soon as you got a free second you ripped it off and threw it to the side.

The soldier pinned you against a wall by your neck. In your struggle, you hit a panel on the wall that opened the bay door. The two of you were being pulled out.

The shuttle had probably been programmed to fly in low orbit since the scene outside still had the landscape whizzing by instead of stars. That and the fact you didn’t pass out and die from lack of oxygen when the bay door opened since you didn’t have your helmet on.

The Galran soldier was still holding you but looking out the door. Due to their mass, you weren’t being sucked out immediately, instead the force was slowly dragging you both. Now it was your turn to take advantage of your enemy’s distraction. You swung your feet and connected to their chest. They loosened their grip enough for you to jump down. Before you could get far though, they grabbed your right wrist, yanking you towards them.

By now you knew you were out of your league. This Galra was solidly built and your hits weren’t doing much. Time for something Keith taught you. You twisted your palm to the sky of the arm that they were holding. You stepped in towards the galra with the same foot and grabbed their hand with your free one. With a thrust of your right elbow upwards you were free. You then grabbed their thumb pad and twisted it outwards making the Galra lean to avoid breaking their arm. It worked exactly how Keith told you it would.

Unfortunately at the same time, the ship careened to avoid hitting another ship that passed by. The Galra was thrown completely off balance and since you were holding their hand, you were thrown too. Without any time or things to hold onto, you were both sent flying out of the ship along with the rest of its contents through the open bay doors.

This was not how you thought your first experience skydiving would be like. “ _Shut-up, think_ ,” you scolded yourself. You have to tell your team! Instantly you cursed taking off you helmet. With a quick scan of the items floating around you, you noticed the white of your helmet on the other side of a crate. You grabbed the crate hoping it would allow you some purchase to get to your helmet.

Suddenly you were yanked back, it was the Galra. “Don’t think you can get away safely.”

If you weren't fighting, you would have liked to know what exactly was safe about hurtling towards a planet. “Get off!” You kicked away from their hand and grabbed the helmet.

The soldier used the box to kick off and jump at you. You didn’t waste a second jamming the helmet back on and turning on the comms unit, right as the Galra made impact around your middle. “Ah!”

“Y/n! Is that you?!” Lance screeched.

“Yeah, wait,” you grunted as you broke free again. “Is there anyone free to pick me up?”

“Where are you?” Keith answered back.

“Uhh,” The Galra pulled their staff out and you materialized your axe preparing to defend.

“Where are you?” Shiro repeated, cold and sharp.

“The upper atmosphere and moving fast,” you yelled as you found a crate to use to dodge the Galra.

“Which craft are you in? We lost sight of you between the fighting,” Lance asked.

“I’m not, ugh!” You yelled as the Galra caught you with the business end of their staff.

“Which craft? What do you mean by that? I assumed she was with you,” Pidge asked.

“Y/n stupidly,” Shiro started and took a break to control his feelings, “jumped onto one of their ships. But what do you mean by ‘I’m not’ y/n?”

You watched as a huge box floated down between you and the Galra. This was your chance to catch you breath and talk to the team, “I’m sending out my location now,” you tapped your wrist “but I’m not in a ship, long story short, I falling towards the planet.” You looked down, the ground approaching and a bad feeling settling in your stomach, “no safe landing in sight.”

It was quiet on the comms for a second before Shiro started, “Team, we need an lion there stat, sound off,”

“I can’t, I’m being trailed by 3 ships, their shots are all over the place, the chance of them hitting y/n is too high” Lance answered immediately.

“I’m also being pursued,” Allura stated, “Hunk?”

“I’m too far,” Hunk yelled, clearly distressed, “Yellow doesn’t have the speed to get there before…”

“Pidge?” Shiro cut off Hunk.

“I’m not done disabling their ion cannons,” You could tell by how fast they were talking that they were trying desperately to finish.

“Keep working on it,” you encouraged without thinking.

More silence. Oh right, you were plummeting at a high speed towards the planet.

“Keith?” Shiro strained.

“I don’t know Shiro,” He clearly didn’t want to say no but was too unsure.

“It’s ok, we got some time,” you offered, “and besides,” the Galra was now smiling at you from above, “I have a friend to keep me company.” You increased the size of your bayard once again.

“What does that mean?” Keith asked tentatively.

“It means I’m not the only one free falling so please hurry if you - can!” The pilot leaped off the last crate still above you to get down to your level right as you were ending your sentence.

“Who are you talking to?” The Galra was close but yelling over the rushing air, “That pitiful excuse of a crew? That bunch of blundering aliens that think they are the saviors of the universe? That troop of so called paladins wouldn’t know a hard earned victory if it stabbed them in the chest.” Every sentence was punctuated with an explosion of electricity as their staff connected with your axe blade, the last stab being particularly forceful and cracking with stored electricity just waiting to be discharged.

You forgot your comms were still on as you shouted, “Shut up!” Swinging your axe to create some space, “You don’t know anything!”

“I know that Galran children know more about war than those fakes!” The Galran soldier aimed their staff at you but the distance seemed too great to hit you. “I know that given the opportunity, I would kill any one of them or any one that chooses to side with them.”

After that, they shot a beam of electricity from their staff, very much like a flash of lightning, it struck you and instantly wrapped you in paralyzing pain, “AaAaggh!”

~

“No!” Shiro yelled in the Red Lion. His hold on Lance's chair tightened and he stopped breathing waiting for a response.

"Y/n!" Hunk shouted after a few seconds.

There was just static coming from your line.

"Come on, come on." Shiro chanted, waiting anxiously to hear your voice.

Just more static.

Lance started, "Keith, you have to get there, you're the only one who can."

"I'm already on my way," He assured.

"Allura, take the ground, I'll clean up the skies. Pidge and Hunk finish up those big guns!" Lance directed as he swung his lion around to take out a couple of his tailing enemies.

The team returned a chorus of confirmations.

"Y/n!" Shiro tried again, "Please, y/n!"

~

The few seconds of being shocked were quick but felt that they lasted forever. You heard the others talking or yelling through the comms but it was mostly scrambled from the overload of electricity.

“Hey-” static. You heard what could have been the beginning of your name but the static was very thick in your helmet and your ears were ringing. It was impossible to know who was calling out. Now you were now upside down, head first, diving with the other objects towards the edge of a mountain, the ground fast approaching. You peaked at where the Galra was before and you caught their eye as an aircraft collided with with them and promptly exploded. You closed your eyes and grimaced. Death was still death and it was unpleasant.

“Y/n!” Someone called.

It was enough to bring you back to your senses, you coughed as you tried to find your voice, “I’m,” after a breath, you continued, “here.” 

“Listen to me,” it was Shiro, there was enough clarity to know that but every hard consonant hissed with static. “You have to stay with me.”

“I’m here,” you repeated trying to comfort him.

“Keith is on his way, it’s going to be close.”

“Mmm,” your eyes fluttered, the suit wasn’t filtering the additional oxygen that you needed at this layer of the atmosphere, the whole thing must have short-circuited.

“Y/n stay awake, at least until you’re inside the Black Lion.”

“Got it,” you agreed.

“Good,” Shiro allowed himself one short sigh before continuing, “Like I said, it's going to be close, do you have any way to slow down your descent?”

A quick scan around and you noticed there wasn’t anything within reach, “I can-” you cut out on the comms link, “jetpack.”

“Good, good, do that,” Shiro coaxed.

“It’s not-” static interrupted on both ends making you wince at it's harsh sound. Your voice came back more panicked, “It’s not working!”

“What’s it doing?” Hunk cut in now.

“It’s sputtering and popping,” you said quickly, “like an old car.”

“Shit,” Lance said.

“Keep using it,” Hunk advised.

“What? No, what if it combusts?” Allura fired back.

“The sputtering and popping will slow down their fall, not a lot but it’s something,” Hunk answered.

“How long can the jetpack be used like that?” Keith asked quickly.

“Not long, maybe 30 seconds? Or else it runs the risk of overheating and exploding,” Hunk warned.

“Keith, what’s your eta?” Shiro commanded.

“I’ll get there in 30 seconds.”

“But you’re at least two minutes away,” Pidge yelled having already calculated the distance.

“I’ll get there in 30 seconds,” he confirmed.

Bless the stars for Keith’s piloting and confidence in said piloting.

“Did you hear all that, Y/n?” Shiro asked.

“30 seconds,” you repeated, the pack already felt warm on your back but you continued to press it for more power.

This 30 seconds was the longest of your life. The ground was getting too close too fast, you thought.

“Um, guys?” You wanted to say something profound in case it might be the last thing you say but found no words. The jetpack was at its limit and felt so hot, like it was melded to your back. “I think this is it.”

“No,” Shiro refused.

“The jetpack can’t,” you insisted.

“Just keep going,” Shiro answered.

The jetpack was now smoking and the pops were more like mini bursts of hot air being expelled instead of any type of hovering. You could see the Black Lion speeding towards you now, _but the ground_ , you reminded yourself. Looking down was a bad idea, you were probably 1000 feet up? If you were really skydiving you would have released a parachute 5000 feet ago.

“Keith?” you asked nervously.

“I’m almost there,” he answered.

You could see that he wasn’t. “Shiro,” you started, “I’m sorry.”

“We will talk about this,” Shiro answered sharply.

“But-”

“I said we will talk about it,” he was clearly avoiding any other possibilities.

You closed your eyes accepting whatever comes next.

A loud roar filled the air as the Black Lion appeared next to you but in the same instant your jetpack exploded rocketing you to the side. Keith was quick and Black enclosed you in its mouth. You were sent towards the back of its mouth as the lion headed up into the sky.

“I got her,” Keith confirmed for the team but before they could relax he added, “but the jetpack-”

“It blew up, didn't it!?” Hunk called out.

“Yeah, right as I got there,” Keith answered.

“You gotta get the pack off, like now, if it’s exploded once it could again!” Hunk warned.

Keith looked over at his mom, she nodded and left the cockpit to get you.

Krolia found you in a crumpled heap trying to get up near the mouth cannon. “Hey, hey, hey,” Krolia called as she approached.

“I made it?” You asked on all fours, petting the floor of Black’s mouth.

“Barely,” Krolia laughed as she kneeled next to you but she had already noted the red hot glowing pack on your back and the scorch marks that ravaged the back of your suit.

“Oh,” you slumped down onto the cool metal, “Black, you’re the best.”

“We have to get the jetpack off, now,” Krolia commanded while still sounding comforting.

“Don’t touch it!” You warned as she reached out. “It’s too hot, it’ll burn you,’’ you tried your best to lean away from her.

“It’s okay,” Krolia soothed as she found the connection points on your chest armor. It popped off and Krolia threw the burning pack as far to the other side as possible.

You took several deep breaths as the air nipped at your newly singed skin.

Krolia frowned, she knew that it was going to scar even if you spent weeks in the healing pod.

“I think my comms stopped working after Keith caught me,” you mentioned as Krolia was sitting you upright.

She grabbed your helmet and turned it slowly, noting a dent on one side. “I’m going to remove your helmet,” Krolia said.

“Ok,” you responded and closed your eyes as she pulled it off.

“I think it could be this,” Krolia pointed to the dent. You looked sad so she added, "I bet Hunk could have this fixed in an afternoon.”

You smiled, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Come on, let’s get you up to the cockpit so I can start bandaging you,” Krolia extended a hand and you took it. She helped you to your feet but it was clear you weren’t steady. “Here,” she took your hand and placed it on her shoulder as she turned around to offer you her back.

“Thanks, sorry,” you muttered as you wrapped your arms around her neck suddenly feeling like a kid. It was both because the last time you got a piggyback ride was when you were little and because Krolia was taller than you, making you feel small.

“It’s ok,” She reassured as she easily lifted you holding onto your legs.

“Can you tell the team I’m ok?” You asked as she climbed the ladder towards the cockpit.

Krolia nodded and then said, “Y/n says she’s ok.”

Even you could hear Hunk’s response outside her helmet, “And the jetpack?!”

“Off and left behind,” Krolia answered as you two entered the cockpit.

Keith turned around in the seat to see you hanging onto Krolia. You didn’t look ok in his mind. You were missing your chest armor and helmet, you looked drained, and the unmistakable smell of burnt skin entered with you. Keith watched as Krolia carefully let you slide down to your feet, you held an arm around her waist for support and she held you up by your shoulder. “Are you really ok?” Keith blurted out. Kosmo whined as he sidled up next to you on the other side offering his support.

“Eh, ok enough,” you answered as you sat down next to Kosmo and Krolia gathered the first-aid supplies. “What’s everyone’s status?” You asked changing the subject.

Keith looked back at the dashboard to check. “Lance is making short work of the small crafts still in the air. Pidge disabled the ion cannons and Hunk is going to back them up to handle the biggest of the group. Allura is working on the forces that landed.”

“Everyone’s ok?” You asked.

“Yeah except you,” He answered, “ You really have to stop, literally jumping, into the fight,” Keith started.

“Oh please Keith, spare me the speech. I know I’m going to get an earful from literally everyone else, but you would have done the same thing. I’m surprised you haven’t already to be perfectly honest.” You were tired and didn’t try to hide your attitude.

Krolia smiled because she knew you were right and since Keith didn’t continue, she knew that he agreed. “Can you sit forward a little bit?”

“Yeah, of course,” you obliged.

“It’s going to sting,” Krolia advised.

“Can’t be worse than what I guess was 30 milliamps coursing through my limbs.”

“Yeah probably not,” Krolia smiled. She loved your spunk and how tough you were, it reminded her a lot of herself when she first started working with the Blades. You may be too eager to prove yourself but at the same time not scared to show weakness in front of your team and she admired that.

“Do you mind if I actually lay down instead?” You asked, your head in your hands.

“Go ahead,” Krolia said as she helped you shift positions, “do you feel nauseous?”

“No, not nauseous, just tired” you settled with your head on your arms as you laid on your stomach. “I really thought that was going to be it,” you took a breath to settle the rising panic, “apparently facing death takes a lot out of you.” You remembered and added, “Thank you Keith.”

“Anytime,” He answered, “but I would prefer if it was not all the time.”

“Oh ha-ha,” you answered sarcastically, “much to everyone’s surprise I would also prefer it that way.”

Krolia started cleaning your burnt back. First she disinfected and applied a soothing balm. She had you sit up so she could wrap the bandage around your middle. Still exhausted, she offered her lap for you to lay your head on and so that she could keep you stable while Keith and the paladins finished their fight.

“I used the thing you taught me, Keith!” you blurted out, you were trying to stay awake so you said the first thing that came to mind.

“Oh yeah?” you could hear the smile in his voice.

“Yeah! The one where you grab their hand and twist.”

“Did it work?” He asked enjoying this rare side of you that didn't feel like you had the weight of the world on your back.

“Yep! Just like you said,” you giggled a little as Kosmo settled next to you. "I wonder why Kosmo is so soft..." Your eyelids were getting droopy. No one would notice if you took a quick nap and you slipped into a quick sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I thought that I would end it after this chapter but I just kept writing and I ended up having enough content for another chapter. So look forward to that as soon as I can clean it up and edit it!


	5. Cooldown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are ups and downs to everything but fighting a war makes everything more perilous.

Everyone regrouped near where you all had camped.

Shiro and Lance were already waiting outside the Red Lion when Keith pulled up in Black. Keith exited first followed closely by Kosmo then Krolia with you sleeping on her back.

“Y/n!” Shiro yelled out as he ran over, Lance on his heels.

The sound woke you and you realized you were back on the ground and then realized Krolia was carrying you. “Sorry, you can put me down, I’m awake,” you mumbled as you gained more awareness.

Krolia was careful setting you on your feet. You reached out to steady yourself so she stayed close by.

Shiro was next to you in a second, he grabbed your shoulders and assessed your entire being. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with what he found. Your torso wrapped in bandages and the remaining pieces of armor were scuffed with burnt streaks all over. He took a breath to start speaking.

“I’m ok,” you put up a hand to stop him.

“But y/n-”

“But nothing, I’m ok,” you reassured.

“You don’t get off that easy,” Shiro warned.

“Yeah, I figured. I thought I’d try though,” you shrugged.

Shiro let go of you. “What you did was so dangerous! What made you think that was going to be a good idea? We’re lucky Keith was able to get to you in time,” Shiro grabbed the bridge of his nose, a sign that he was at his wit’s end. “Seriously, what were you thinking?”

“That I’d be helping…” You trailed off, knowing you had ended up being the opposite of helpful.

Shiro exhaled. If it had been anyone else it probably would have been easier to keep his cool but you meant so much to him. He continued, “We appreciate everything you do, really. But you _need_ to realize your limits.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” you talked back before you could control yourself.

“What?” Shiro was already high strung from the stress of the recent fight that anger easily overtook him.

You tried to backpedal, “Shiro, you always throw yourself in front of enemies. I’ve watched you charge enemies with your hands tied behind your back, you were transported into the astral plane protecting the team! It’s so fundamental to who you are, even your doppelganger from another _reality_ jumped in front of a laser blast for Lance! How can you expect me not to do the same?”

This shut the man up. He couldn’t deny any of what you were saying and it was frustrating.

You came in close to Shiro and looked at him fiercely, “I would do  _ anything _ for this group, and that includes you,” you poked him in the chest, “but I will not take a back seat in this fight.” You hoped that you were intimidating even though Shiro had quite some height on you. This was what you stood for and if Shiro couldn’t get on board with that then there wasn’t any point in continuing this new relationship. It stung your heart thinking that this was a very real possible outcome of this talk.

You continued staring into Shiro’s eyes as they softened, losing the flames of anger and replacing it with something akin to weariness. “That’s not what I’m asking,” he took a moment, “I was just so worried,” He carefully reached out and caressed the side of your face.

“I’m sorry,” you reached up to hold his hand, relieved you didn't have to fight about this. After a tender moment, you conceded with a small smile, “It was kind of stupid."

“Y/N!” Hunk was running over followed by Allura and Pidge jumping down from their lions. 

Shiro let go as you leaned around him to see the rest of the team coming over.

“Are you ok?” Allura asked as she approached.

“Yeah, sorry about-”

Allura didn’t let you finish, “Don’t ever do that!” She started growing larger as she began her speech, “Those maneuvers should only be done if planned and practiced. And even then it should only be done if necessary, not ‘just because,’” she used air quotes, something she picked up from the Earth lot and used ceaselessly. She continued, “You could have been seriously injured, or killed!” She was taller than Shiro when she stopped herself.

You ran a hand through your hair nervously, “sorry,” you offered sheepishly. You weren’t going to try to fight her on this because she was way more prepared when it came to arguments. Must have something to do with being raised by a diplomat, you thought.

Hunk jumped in, “What happened with the jetpack?” He spun you around before you could protest.

The group of them winced looking at the blood speckled bandages. Keith spoke up first, “Like I said it exploded right as I got there.”

Krolia wrapped a protective arm around you to spin you back facing the group, “She should get in the healing pod.” 

“Agreed,” Keith nodded.

“Just for a bit, then I’ll be 100 percent,” you flashed a smile and hoped it eased everyone’s worries.

Pidge laughed, “you’re impossible!” With Pidge’s laughter, everyone else seemed to loosen up.

Shiro helped Krolia walk you back to the Black Lion. He held your hand as you climbed into the pod. Once it was shut and running he turned to Krolia, “Be honest with me, how was she?”

“Badly burned,” Krolia answered as she crossed her arms. “The jet pack was glowing brightly and y/n wouldn’t let me touch it for fear that  _ I _ would be burned,” her voice had hints of mirth.

“How did you get it off then?” Shiro asked, not wanting to be spared any details.

“Found another way,” She shrugged, “The jet pack is attached to the chest and back armor so we unlocked that mechanism.”

“Smart,” Shiro complimented before asking, “And the burns?”

“Shiro,” Krolia started.

“Just tell me Krolia,” Shiro snapped.

She hesitated but told him, “they were deep burns, blackened skin, probably damaged nerves and it will definitely scar.”

Shiro’s face was hard set as he watched over you.

“But she’ll be fine,” Krolia added, “as soon as I had brought her to the cockpit and started bandaging her, she was telling Keith off for lecturing her.”

“Did she really?” Shiro knew it sounded like you.

“She did, and even though she just narrowly escaped death, one of her first requests was to let you all know she was ok and one of her first questions was to check on everyone’s well-being." Krolia added, "She loves you all very deeply.”

“And we, her,” Shiro reached out his hand to the pod placing his fingertips on the cool glass, “I just wish she would be more careful, everyone’s luck runs out eventually.” He removed his hand and rubbed his right shoulder.

Coran entered, out of breath from running and climbing into the lion. “How-?” He started.

“She’ll be fine,” Shiro answered.

“Not when I get through with her,” Coran had recovered somewhat.

Krolia laughed.

“What?” Shiro was actually shocked.

“You heard me, I’m going to give her such a talking to!” Coran pointed to the sky and placed a hand on his hip, “This has gone too far, I’m taking that bayard back, she wasn’t ready.” 

Shiro couldn’t think of a time he’s seen Coran so frustrated and angry. “She’s not going to like that,” Shiro laughed. He knew how much that bayard meant to you.

“Yeah, well that’s what happens when you break a promise,” Coran was standing next to Shiro now looking at you resting in the pod.

“Promise?” Shiro asked.

Coran’s shoulders sagged, “When I gave her the bayard, she promised she’d be smarter, that she’d stop putting herself in senseless danger,” now he was shaking with emotion.

Shiro pat the man’s back, “As much as I agree with your irritation, I don’t think taking away their one source of defense is going to make things any better.”

“Well, that’s hardly for you to decide Shiro,” Coran answered coldly.

Shiro knew Coran was upset but so was he. “Well, I don’t think they decided to be ejected from the spacecraft.”

Not wanting to invoke the wrath of Shiro, Coran paused. “You’re probably right, but we don’t know what happened.” Now he was reading the diagnostics with a frown. “Should be done in a couple varga, we can find out then.”

“Only a few hours?” Shiro asked looking at Krolia.

She shrugged, “My guess is that the damage has already been done?”

“Shit.” Shiro cursed as he chewed his bottom lip.

A serious silence fell over the three of them around the pod. As if on cue it started beeping.

“What’s that, Coran?” Shiro asked quickly.

“Uh,” He was rereading the diagnostics as they updated, “an irregular heartbeat.”

“What? She never mentioned any heart problems?” Shiro asked, panic rising.

“She said she got electrocuted,” Krolia provided, “Would that have affected the heart?”

“What?” Shiro asked at the same time as Coran answered.

“That could be it,” Coran absently played with his mustache as he assessed what to do. He found the answer, he pressed some of the displays and the beeping stopped.

Shiro grabbed at his own heart, “What did you do?”

“Just a mild shock to reset the heart to a normal rhythm,” Coran breathed in to settle his own racing heart.

~

The team decided to leave the planet. Everything was already packed and the course was plotted. The next destination was not far and they had calculated that they would get there before you would be out of the pod. Shiro stationed himself next to the pod with Coran riding in the Black Lion instead of Blue. Krolia opted for the Yellow Lion with Kosmo to allow for more space in Black.

Landing and set up went fine but it was quiet. No one was in a talkative mood.

The pod swished open and you rubbed your eyes. You were tired but felt much better. You sat up and Shiro was right beside you in the next moment.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Much better,” you answered, “What did I miss?”

“Not much, we landed on the next planet,” Shiro explained.

“Oh really?” You started getting up out of the pod.

“Whoa, hey,” Shiro helped you get on your feet, “Calm down, you don’t have to rush, we’ll be here for a bit.”

“I know but new planets are exciting,” you were almost bouncing with eagerness.

Shiro didn’t want to ruin your mood but he knew you two needed to have a conversation, “Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” you responded, your heart dropping to the floor. His tone was serious and your mind had already jumped to all the bad things this conversation could be about.

He motioned to have you sit in the pilot’s seat as he leaned against the dashboard. There was a beat as Shiro gathered his thoughts. “Why did you jump onto that plane?”

“I already said, I thought I could help.”

“And I get that, but you didn’t say anything, why?”

“I didn’t think I needed permission?”

Shiro shook his head, “you don’t but a heads up would be nice. We’re a team, we have a right to know, especially with uh,” he thought for a second choosing his words carefully, “difficult maneuvers. I'm not trying to fight, I just want to understand.”

You waited a moment to absorb what Shiro was saying. “That makes sense, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Shiro started softly and knelt down in front of you and took your hands, “we all care about you. You are so important to the team and I honestly don’t even know what I would do if anything happened to you.” Shiro brought your hands to his face.

You took the opportunity to caress his face, “You’d move on because you’re strong and you have so much love to give.” You stroked his cheek with your thumbs.

“Please don’t talk like that,” Shiro looked tortured by the thought as he lightly squeezed your wrists in anguish.

You gave him a little pinch as you continued, “I’m not planning on going anywhere, you can’t get rid of me that easy.”

With that, Shiro relaxed in your hands, “Good, because you’re about to get an earful from Coran and you’re gonna wish for the sweet release of death.”

“Wha-” Before you could even finish your thought Coran was storming into the cockpit with a face of fury.

“I’ve waited long enough, Shiro!” Coran yelled, stopped cleared his throat to bring his tone back to a reasonable level. “I need to talk with y/n.”

“Of course,” Shiro stood up to leave. He caught your eyes and he could see you begging him to stay with just a look. He leaned down close and whispered in your ear, “This is your punishment.”

There was definitely a sense of foreboding but it was also kind of hot when Shiro talked like that. Either way, you were left frustrated in more than one sense of the word as Coran started his prepared speech.

~2 Hours later

“They’ve been talking for an awfully long time,” Romelle commented.

“Yeah,” Allura picked a piece of a leafy plant off the ground, “When Coran gets going,” She let her eyes get wide with exaggeration. Allura threw the leaf into the fire remembering many times she had been in your position. 

The Black Lion finally opened up. Everyone watched as Coran exited first with an air of victory and you followed obviously exhausted and defeated. The pair of you walked over to the group. Coran cleared his throat to gather everyone’s attention.

You started, “Hey, so, I’m sorry about today. My flagrant disrespect towards the group and lack of discipline led to endangering not only myself but also the well-being of the team and I will take full responsibility for my actions and promise to do better in the future.” 

Those were clearly not your words and when you peeked at Coran, it confirmed it for Shiro, that Coran had made you say it. 

“It’s ok, y/n, as long as you’re ok,” Hunk said first.

“No Hunk, y/n has to earn back your trust,” Coran added.

“But I already trust-” Hunk started.

“Shh, nope, she’s going to earn it.” Coran pat the top of Hunk’s head before heading over to the sleeping tent, looking pretty content with himself.

You dropped down into a seat between Hunk and Shiro around the fire with a sigh.

“You don’t have to earn my trust, you’ve already got it,” Hunk offered.

“Thanks, Hunk,” you smiled, “but Coran’s got a laundry list of things for me already, including one personal favor from each of you, so I literally owe you all one.”

“That seems like a little much,” Lance observed.

“For Coran,” Allura added, “It’s pretty reserved.”

Shaking your head you said, “I don’t mind,” but then frowned, “but he took the bayard I was using.” You drew up your knees to hug them to your chest.

“Well, that’s not fair!” Lance protested, “How are you supposed to fight?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll make do,” you shrugged.

Keith stood up and everyone looked at him, “It’s been a long day. Y/n, I’m glad you’re safe but speaking from experience, take some time to rest before you go jumping from another lion,” he placed a friendly hand on your head as he walked past towards the tents. Then Keith called over his shoulder, “Hey Hunk, can I borrow you for a second?”

“Yeah, sure,” Hunk answered as he got up. He copied Keith and rubbed your head with his hand, it was softer and messed up your hair.

Giggling, you fought Hunk’s hand off.

“Be more careful,” Hunk pleaded.

“I will,” you promised.

“Hunk?” Keith called from the tent entrance.

“I’m coming,” Hunk yelled, jogging over.

“I’m going to go for a walk,” Allura announced. 

Lance quickly offered, “I can go with you!” He jumped up and was behind Allura before she could say anything back. The two of them walked off and around the rock cropping to the side.

“I’m exhausted!” Pidge exclaimed and got up to leave.

“I’ll take care of a perimeter check since everyone’s heading in for the night,” Krolia stated. “Kosmo!” She called then whistled. 

The wolf perked up then jumped over to her side.

It was just you, Shiro and Romelle left sitting around the fire.

“I’m just,” Romelle started, “I’m just gonna go.” She pointed her thumbs towards the tents.

As soon as she was inside the tent you started laughing, “I think we found the least subtle bunch of beings in the universe.”

Shiro smiled, “You’re probably right.”

You leaned on his shoulder, “I really am sorry about today.”

“I bet you are, especially after listening to Coran for two hours,” Shiro chuckled as he wrapped his arm around you.

“Well, he made some good points,” with a scoot closer to Shiro, you continued, “I’m too hot-headed and stubborn for my own good. I have little to no patience and my lack of forethought  _ is _ astonishing,” you were slowly devolving into Coran’s speech and sighed with a shake of your head. “Honestly, what do you see in me?”

“So much good,” Shiro started, “What Coran sees as hot-headedness and stubbornness, I see passion and dedication. Patience takes a lot of forms, that is something I have learned from my time in space,” Shiro paused but pushed on, “and it’s impossible to see the future so while you can think about it all you want, it won’t change a thing.”

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Shiro looked down at you.

“Make everything sound positive.”

“Another thing you pick up with age,” Shiro snickered.

“You’re not even old!” You nudged him, “You’re a twentysomething, not a grandpa.”

“But that’s where you’re wrong,” Shiro teased.

You fell for it and looked up at him confused.

“I feel like a grandpa in a twentysomething's body.”

“After today, same.”

“You feel like a grandpa too?!” Shiro joked.

You didn't want to laugh at his dumb joke but a smile crept onto your face so you rolled with it. Impersonating an old man, you said, “Yes young man, now get off my lawn.”

Shiro barked out a laugh.

You continued the impression, “Kids these days, always on their lions. Back in my day, we had rocket ships that could barely make it to the moon and back." Shiro's laugh increasing as he released you to hold his stomach, "Those were the good old days but I’m hip with the kids, I know what they like. It’s all about the Voltrons and selfies.”

“Stop!” Shiro was doubled over in laughter, “Oh god, stop, I can’t.”

“What!?” You put a hand to your ear, “What did you say?” You were trying to stay in character but Shiro’s laugh was contagious.

“Oh gosh, my girlfriend’s been an old man the whole time,” Shiro feigned dismay.

It was your turn to giggle.

Shiro's laugh finally dying down, he wrapped his arm around you again, “I guess we're just a couple of grandpas.”

“More like a couple of nerds,” you relaxed in his embrace, watching the fire lazily.

“I wouldn’t ask for anything else,” Shiro declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I got for now but I do love this story and I will probably come back to it in the future. My only goal for this fic was for Shiro to be happy, loved, and laughing. I'd like to think goal accomplished. Thank you, everyone, for reading!!


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